Current mood:	awake
Entry tags:	euro adventure, germany, travel

Munich
This took awhile. No excuse other than I was very lazy.

So, where in the world is Alyssa Noel Markham? Munich, Germany! Congrats to luthienofold on her correct answer! Still need your address, honey!



The trip from Brussels to Munich was largely uneventful. If you don’t count one or two embarrassing moments of not having a reservation and winding my ways through the cars looking for a few seats, it all went smoothly. I arrived around 7PM and quickly got lost on my way to the hostel. I didn’t get far before correcting my mistake and arriving at the Euro Youth Hostel. The rest of that evening was devoted to free wifi, showering, and relaxing.

I woke the next day at 9AM, dressed, ate breakfast (made a sandwich for later and snuck it out) and quickly departed for the free tour of Munich. It was cold. No, not only cold, it was freezing. I was shivering barely five minutes into the walk and at some point during the tour I lost feeling of my feet. Cold folks, which I suppose I should expect Germany to be in the dead of winter, but still. Cold.

We started out at Marienplatz and got a brief rundown on the meaning behind the Marienplatz column and statue of Mary. Back in the day, during the 30 years war, the Swiss army was riding out to sack Munich. The town lord got his best men, saddled up their horses…and rode off for the hills, leaving the people defenseless. Miraculously, the Swiss army agreed not to sack the town if Munich paid them a great deal of money, thus Munich was saved. When the lord returned, his angry people, wanting to know why he had run away, greeted him. The lord said that he had taken his best men to the hills in order to be closer to the heavens and they had prayed to Mary to save the city. The people bought it and lauded their lord for his piety. They wanted to build a statue of him, but, the lord declined and told them to build one of Mary instead.



The story finished up just in time to see the Glockenspiel, or basically a giant cuckoo clock.



The top row represents the wedding of Renata von Lothringen and Wilhelm V (founds of the Hofbrau brewery) and the second row shows the cooper dance, which started after the end of the black death in the 1500s.



After the grand cuckoo clock finale, we walked toward Frauenkirche, the oldest church in Munich and heard the story of the devil’s footprint. Apparently when the church was being built, the devil flew over it and was furious that another church was being built, so he flew down with plans to destroy it. Instead, when he stood in front of it, he saw no windows and he got to thinking – no windows means no light, no light means dark and damp and that people wouldn’t want to pray in the church. He thought this was a great idea and called the architect over. He told the architect that if he agreed to not add any more windows, the devil would help him build the church in record time. The architect agreed and they signed the contract in blood. ___ years later, the church was completed in record time as promised. The devil came down to see his handy work and was shocked to see that light was streaming in and people were praying. Enraged, the devil called the architect to him and demanded to know why he had broken the deal. The architect brought the devil over to the place where he had stood the night of the deal, and this is what the devil saw:



The devil realized he had been tricked and stamped his foot on the ground and disappeared, never to return to that church again, leaving only this to verify the tale:



Or so they say :D

We then headed for the Hafbrauhaus, the oldest brewery in Munich and, arguably, the most famous in the world. This was where Hitler got his start and gave his first speech, in fact, right in this hall.



We didn’t have time for food or drink, and it was freezing cold so we kept moving. Our guide took us up Dodger’s alley, where the people who opposed Hitler would walk in order to avoid having to salute the plaque he put up to honor the Nazis who died during the Beerhall Puscht. If people didn’t salute they were savagely beaten, and eventually Hitler put a spy on the street to take down names of those who used Dodger’s alley too much.



The tour finished up right before my feet froze off. I walked around with this girl, Kristen, who was also on the tour. We went to the Residenz, the summer palace of the royal Bavarian family. I was able to see four rooms for free, and the frescos on the walls of each really blew me away. They depict mythological/historical figures and each room has a story to tell.











I also goofed around with some of the statues…



It was really cold and both Kristen and I were beat, so we headed home for a few hours before heading back out to the Hofbrauhaus for food. I ordered the Bavarian meatloaf and a pretzel, she got the sausage platter and a GINORMOUS beer. I’m not even kidding folks, LOOK at this thing!



And if you want to talk about big, check out my pretzel!



The bavarian meatloaf was not what I expected. I thought something like American meatloaf, but nope, this was an entire loaf of MEAT, and it tasted like a hotdog. Still pretty tasty! We had a great time in the restaurant, met a man in lederhosen and Kirsten finally finished the beer!







After the big meal, it was time to head home to sleep to prepare for the next day: Dachau, the first concentration camp.

I’m not going to give much of a narrative about my visit to Dachau other than to clarify pictures. Suffice to say it was a very emotionally draining day.









“Work will set you free.”













The following pictures are all the monuments that have been erected in honor of the victims of Dachau.











Visiting Dachau makes you realize the depth of cruelty people of capable of, but it also showcases the fellowship and brotherhood of the victims and how they helped each other and struggled to survive.

I was drained after leaving Dachau and I rested at the hostel awhile before going out again. I toured around the Christmas markets, bought my brother his beer stein and a bratwurst sandwich for myself. Oh my God, it was so good. The Germans really do make the best sausage, let me tell you. It was getting ever colder as the night went on, and I was still tired, so I bought some dessert and headed back to the hostel to sleep before leaving the next day for my next adventure.